MaxDriver98

I bought my 1998 Maxima thinking it had ABS. The sticker even told me that it has ABS, but I found out the hard way it does not. I hit my brakes in the rain and I was skidding and the car wouldn't stop and I hit the car in front of me. Luckily there was no visible damage so we both went our own ways. I called the dealer and they said it isn't their fault really because on the sticker it clearly says that the sticker might not be accurate. I paid $16,000 for my car back in 2001 with 9,000 miles on it and it is a base Maxima. I even got their crappy extended warranty for another $1,500.

Is there anything that can be done? I want my ABS!

The dealer is Carmax.

maximadave

iTrader: (10)

do you still have the window sticker?

MaxDriver98

I was thinking I could take them to small claims court, but the sticker clearly says "might not be accurate". So any car dealership can sell you a basic car and say it had all these features and get away with it.

MaxDriver98

Yes I have it

Scruit

You always have to check to make sure the sticker is correct. I have checked out more than one SUV labelled '4x4' or 'AWD' only to find that it was actually the 2WD version. I told one sales guy this - he said; "The sticker says 4x4". I got down on my knees and looked under the front bumper, then stood up and said; 'This model uses a reverse-rotation Dana 44 open differential and Borg-Warner 1356 transfer case in 4x4 config. This vehicel here has no transfer case or front differential.

The sales guy said he'll tell them to fix the sticker. Threee weeks later it still said 4x4 on it.

'Might not be accurate' - Sheesh. That's like saying; "We could be lying."

RastaManMax

iTrader: (5)

Man, that really sucks... You gotta read all these fine prints, it's kinda like how i got ****ed over with my University... They're all nice and seems like everything will work out until u actually get there and realize that they don't give a **** about you, it's all for the money...

LEMAR

Frank Fontaine

Yeah but I don't think we're talking about the Nissan factory sticker, are we? Without going out to my car, I think there is an orange lamp that lights up when the key first goes to the on position. NO lamp means no ABS. I could see if the car were just purchased, but 2 years later, what do you expect them to do? Caveat emptor is simply a fact of life. When you go and buy a house for over half a million bucks, yeah, there will be some fine print, it's just the game of life imho. Money does grease the skids. The other weird thing is the car cost 16 grand in 2001?? hunnh? The base cars sans ABS were $16995 BRAND-NEW with rebate in 1999, how is a 98 gonna cost that much in 2k1? People really need to do homework before buying, seriously, saves a lot of grief later on.

MaxDriver98

The car was worth $16,500 according to the kelly blue book and we wanted to buy from a good dealer so we picked carmax. I could of easily gotten an I30 with 65,000 miles on it same year for the same price, but mileage meant a lot. I dont trust Nissan dealers and I wanted a used car with very low miles and 9,000 was pretty low. Carmax claims their cars are not rollbacks and non accidental. Plus they had a good warranty for the first 30-days. (major problems in the past with car problems).

BOZOnPJs

the ABS light always comes on when you start the car. like the SRS light. if you never saw that light then you should have known then.. you haven't locked them up in two years?.. don't feel bad about not having ABS.. it's something less to break down on you down later on and have to dish out big dallahs to fix it.

Anuj

still, it's a matter of principle

it said ABS....it didn't come with ABS...what the hell?! If anything, I say you go to that dealership and at least demand free oil change for the rest of the life of the car

Frank Fontaine

What the heck does oil changing have to do with the car not having ABS? Like the other dude said, the brakes never got locked up in 2 years? Also, it takes a little common sense to know that base GXE's were going for $16,995 in the model year 1999 BRAND NEW, with $2500 rebates. Again, how could the car be $16000 in 2k1?? And with 9k miles when it was 3 years old? Common sense again. A fully-loaded SE listing at 29 grand would be 16000 when it was 3 years old, not a stripped GXE with no ABS.

I'm totally serious--in life on has to err on the side of caution. You buy a house, there is gonna be tons of stuff where it could be he said/she said if you don't use a little common sense, especially if the house is used. When was the roof replaced? Central a/c--furnace? Are the floors really solid birdseye maple, or cheap-a** Pergo laminate? Are they Andersen windows or cheap junk? Are they really Corian countertops or substitute? How old are the stove, washer, and dryer? So if the seller exaggerated something they're liable 2 years later? Caveat emptor!!!

BadKarma99-4spd

iTrader: (4)

i agree you should have done more reaserch, but your right its the principle of the thing.

I can only hope that i live to see the days when the dealerships, music business, oil companies and others that regularly screw the consumer get what they have coming too them.

id look into watchdog agencies like the bbb and others to see what they can do for you, or at least report the dealership/warn others not to do business with them.

good luck

Freaknificent

iTrader: (1)

so did he **** himself there after he realized he had no clue what your were talking about or run back inside?

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Something is very wrong with that. I mean you might be able to check if the car has abs or not. ie... check for the abs actuator inside the engine bay, but alot of optional stuff you can't really check for. How can a consumer reasonably be able to check for every little option on the sticker??

infinitiblast

iTrader: (2)

Salesman are so funny to me. I think half of them no nothing about cars, go thru the five weeks of how to lie to the customer training and they put them out on the floor. I was once told by a dealer that this particular maxima I had just test driven had been thru a detailed 130 point inspection oh cool I thought. So I pointed out the warped and severly damaged front rotors, the non existent rear brake pads or just worn down to nothing rather. The clikcing noise while turning and the fact that the sunroof didnt work. His answer...oh well those areas arent part of the 135 point inspection.........so I pointed out to him just two seconds ago it was a 130 point insepction and now where 5 points higher. He smiled went inside and the rest of my sales adventrue I delt with the sales manager directly...allot of good that did he said my 1999 maxima was the last year they came rear wheel drive.....

Madmax1991

I'm a Carmax sales consultant...and when I demo I car for a client, and personally check to make sure that the car has or does not have the options listed on the window sticker. Since the window sticker is optioned my a human, and not computer VIN # based, errors do occur. I make sure I explain the importance for thoroughly checking out the vehicle with my clients...pluls it makes good for future business going that extra mile for the client...just my .02 cents

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Hey! How do you like your job? Is it different than selling cars at a dealership? I'd like to ask you for a range of pay also and what experience is needed for a position like this. Feel free to PM me if that's better. I don't know anyone in the industry

Madmax1991

I love my Job...its a competive envoirment. My pay is great...I don't make what I could make at a "traditional dealership" but I'm happy with it. I'm in the $40K-$45K range. Carmax trains you at $12 an hour...and they WILL NOT put you on the sales floor until you are ready...but then you have those sales people that when they get out on the floor they forget everything they've learned. Any experience needed? Actually no..none is needed, if you ever been to a carmax store you'll notice a number is senior citizens some of which have no sales experience. Carmax is NO PRESSURE!!! Thats what I like...I personally don't like taking advantage of people...I wouldn't like anyone to do that to me or my family members (My aunt got taken advantage of by a Honduh dealer) The only experience I have is retail experience from working at Best Buy and Wal-Mart...it helped out alot by getting a change to work with different people from different nationalities. Sales can be frustrating and sometimes stressful when you have a quota to meet and at the middle of the month you aren't even close to it and you are at the mercy of your client But its fun...and I encourage anyone who wants get into commission sales to do so...its a great experience. But I have the upper hand...I work at the largest Carmax located in Laurel MD...carmax also sell new cars at come locations.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Wow thanks mucho for the info and the candid description.

Madmax1991

No prob...anything to help out a fellow .ORG member

Frank Fontaine

Salespeople and sales are a part of life. Sure, in many ways technology is working very hard to eliminate their jobs--look at stock brokerage, who coulda predicted that you could sell shares for under $10, 10 years ago? And that the CEO of the NYSE could make 140 million dollars? But look at real estate--they drive you around to 10-30 houses and then make $15k times 2 realtors, does that make any sense? If you all of a sudden require a MBA, JD, or MD to be able to be a salesperson, or that they know everything about what they sell, you'll put nearly 100% of the salespeople out of work.

I'm not defending questionable practices, just saying that buyers can always JUST SAY NO. The buyer has the final say in every case. Really, anything too good to be true, IS.

pocketrocket

iTrader: (1)

Dejavu ... same thing when I bought my car 2 years ago. Dealer sticker said ABS, but lo and behold, nothing under the hood. I caught it before I bought the car and brought it up but they didn't budge.

Car was in great shape so I caved in. Did get 4 new tires for free & new front rotors & pads from the dealer though

mAdD MAX

You can always start the car and see if the ABS light flashes.

FanaticMadMax

Geez, that's why I don't trust what salesperson says it has. The only thing as far as getting ABS, you can't get one on your car. Most cars that have ABS are done at the factory once it's rolls off the assmbley line. It can't be done at the dealer, it's a safety aspect that you're dealing with the braking system. However, there may be recourse for the depective window sticker since it is against the law for a dealer to post something on a sticker that it doesn't have. That's false advertising as well compromise a person's safety assuming that you have those safety feature on your car. I would check with your state attorney general's office about that. I would probably seek restitution for the damage it has caused on your car to recoupe the cost of the repair for your car. If you still want your car with ABS, my suggestion is trade it up for another Maxima that actually have ABS.

hoodedmunkee

i got my car at a nissan dealership around seattle and i can say that pretty much,the same thing has happened to me.the sticker said the car has abs and it has tinted windows.the tinted windows was obvioulsy not there,and im not a mechanically inclined person and there was no way of telling if it had ABS or not.the abs light would sure light up when youre inside the car but it turns off after its in running condition.the light does not necessaarily mean it had abs.i matched the sticker VIN with the cars VIN and they matched.i was getting to believe it had ABS.one thing i dont wanna do when im making transactions is too look like i didnt have a clue on what im buying/selling so i didnt ask if the car had ABS.i wanted to give the salesman the impression that i know what im looking for and i knew how much i was going to spend.bottom line is,i didnt have ABS.pop your hood and look at youre engine bay.there are a few fuseboxes and on one of them is where the ABS fuse is located.if you find a fuse on the ABS spot,most likely you do have it.but if the ABS fuse slot is empty,then your car is not equipped.thats how i thought it was.

Jer

iTrader: (2)

Exactly why he might have a case.

nismos14

iTrader: (56)

regardless of whether you had abs or not, u should have known ur cars stopping distance BUT maybe you need to test it out for abs get it goin and slam on the brakes in the dry weather and see what happens, u may have it, it just may be defective

Madmax1991

MaxDriver98 said he brought his Max at Carmax...clearly labled on the window sticker under the options listing in not so fine but visible print it reads "We make every effort to provide accurate information, but please verify before purchasing." and on other stickers it reads that Carmax isn't responsible for any errors about the listed options.

Again...I work for Carmax in the sales dept. I also go back to inventory from time to time to where the cars are preped for sale and what have you. Errors happen, not often but they happen at Carmax. And when a new/used car dealership such as Carmax who does sell more cars than the average high volume dealership had a high quota of cars to have prepared to go on the lot daily, weekly, and monthy.

So you WILL find errors on window stickers, sometimes on some of the veichles the engine size will be wrong, because its based on TRIM level not on OPTIONS Pkgs or special deals that the factory was giving at the time the car was manufactured. The most common error I find with our cars on our lot is Leather or Cloth...sometimes the sticker says leather and the car has cloth...or has sunroof or doesn't some customers look at this as an advantage.

Keep in mind Carmax prices their car based on Condition, milage, the work that was but into the car that made it sellable, and also any minor body work that had to be done to the car...YES, carmax does SOME bodywork to some of the cars it sells. NO! Carmax does not sell cars that were in major accident or cars that had a bunch of body panels replaced. But you will find that a bumpers or maybe a hood from scratched repainted or replaced...bumpers are designed to take hits.

So the question at hand...Madmax would you buy a car from Carmax that has an error or two in the window sticker? Yes...these are the risks that you go have when buying a used car. Thats why its important to CHECK THE WINDOW STICKER AND CAR BEFORE BUYING! Because I can guarentee when Carmax brought that car that knew wich options the car had and didn't have. And no...there is nothing that can be done about a car whose window sticker reads something the car dosn't have...because the car is priced based its market in which the veichle is sold, value and actual features, and demand...Maximas are priced slightly higher at dealers due to the popularity. I hate to tell u bro, but you have no case...it clearly reads it on the window sticker...but I do blame the sales consultant who helped you, thats if you allowed one to help you... But thats what I know about carmax and thats what I tell my clients about carmax if they want to know. Just my .02 cents

johnvt1111

iTrader: (2)

i'd put a huge lawsuit on their ***, but that's me

Madmax1991

Did you not even read what I typed...it wouldn't have a case if he wanted one...
1. he had the car two years
2. There is a disclamer protecting carmax's @ss
3. He's had the car two years...in other words...Carmax give you a Full Five day return policy to return the vehicle if it was not to his liking...2 years later...guess what...he still had his Maxima.
4. If this was such a big deal to him why didn't he notify the Carmax Corperate office?
5. Why didn't he check the car out before he brought it?

I'm sorry to say...even as much as I want to support him, I can't. He's had every option to return his car under the 5 day return policy that is STANDARD on every used Carmax car...so what case does he have? None!

johnvt1111

iTrader: (2)

sorry guy it was 5 a.m. i just read the first post....

joaquink

Anything is possible in America. All he has to do is prove gross negilgence/misrepresentation on the part of Carmax. It doesn't matter what you put on that sticker. This isn't like saying it has power windows or leather interior or is blue in color when that's inaccurate. I'm betting this would be seen as a significant safety feature that he reasonably believed he had but which was not present.

I'd actually like to see it get to court and I'd like to see him win so that Carmax changes its inspection/labelling program to be more accurate. I think it's total crap to stand behind some bogus small-print disclaimer that could jeopardize someones life on the one hand and claim, "We make every effort to provide accurate information..."

If Carmax, the experts, made every effort to verify the car has ABS and then said it does, how is Joe Schmoe supposed to know it doesn't? At a minimum, you guys need to step up your quality controls. It's got nothing to do with financial awards but everything to do with doing what's right.

I can tell you here and now that I'll be skipping Carmax for any future vehicle purchases unless I know this BS claim of making "every effort" is substantiated by changes in how vehicle inspections and subsequent labelling are done.

It's fukking comical to me that you have the audacity to write, "I personally don't like taking advantage of people...I wouldn't like anyone to do that to me or my family members (My aunt got taken advantage of by a Honduh dealer)" and yet you defend Carmax for selling a car listed as having options that it doesn't have.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

50% of maximas owners probably don't know what options their own cars have.

Madmax1991

I'm not defending carmax...but what I'm trying say is and I thought I've made that clear, is that that when you have used car lot, and you have a minimum of 800 cars on it, there are bound to be some errors...the people that option these cars for the window sticker are human...what more can I say about that. And I also said that if he sales person was any type of good sales person...he would have checked as well that that car had all the options listed. I could see if this was a brand new car and this was true with the ABS...then yes I would side with him on this matter... Also what evidence can you provide that would even make you thing that this case would even make it to court...keep in mind he had this car for 2 years...I can see if he had it a month or so...I've seen carmax buy cars back before for different reasons. Will Carmax buy back his car?...they might...I'm not the one to make that call...Would I make that call if I was in that position? It all depends...but from a business aspect yes I would. You also can't attack me for saying "I personally don't like taking advantage of people...I wouldn't like anyone to do that to me or my family members (My aunt got taken advantage of by a Honduh dealer)".

I personally make sure my client know what features are on the car when they buy it...we all know car salesmen get the wort rap for being dishonest and I choose not to live in that light...some of my Colleagues do and are proud of it. Well I'm not like and take it personal that you would say that about me when you or I have never worked with one another. I'm not trying to be an @ss about this but if he car did have ABS and lets say his ABS system was malfunctioning and his ABS light was on...he still wouldn't have use of his Anti-lock feature...but since he didn't have ABS anyway and he did say "I hit the braeks in the rain and I was skidding and the car wouldn't stop and I hit the car in front of me." Him saying that...lead me to believe that is may have been following too close to the car in front of him, or wasn't paying attenting while driving in the type of weather that any driver should be cautious in. But let me ask you this joaquink...What if his car did have ABS...but it wasn't listed in on the window sticker, what would your thoughts be then? I bet you would thing that he got the upper hand on the dealer wouldn't you?

Madmax1991

I agree with you 100% on that. I can't began to tell you how many post I see where people have had their Maxima for years and just finding out that they have a certian option on it...But everyone thinks they know how to buy a car...Man do I have stories to tell you...